The 13th Black Crusade strikes- BAT REP

Gather around Traitors and alcoholics.  It is time to pay tribute to the Beer God and we do this by bringing you this awesome tale of how Kharn and company brought the pain to the False Emperors own Blood Angels.

The Lists

Chaos CSM Black Crusade Detachment

Core (890 pts)
Chaos Warband

HQ-Kharne the Betrayer

Elites-Chosen
           Chosen Champion- CC weapon, Bolt Pistol
           1X Heavy Bolter
           Chaos Rhino
Troops- Chaos Space Marines
              Aspiring Champion- Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Power Sword
              7x chaos space marines with cc weapon and pistols
              Flamer
              Chaos Rhino

              Chaos Space Marines
               Aspiring Champion- CC weapon, boltgun, bolt Pistol
               9x Marines with Boltguns
               Chaos Rhino

Fast Attack- Chaos Bikers
                     Biker Champion- CC weapon, Bolt Pistol, Melta Bombs

Heavy Support- Havocs
                           Aspiring Champion- Power Fist, Bolt Pistol, Melta Bombs
                           4X Melta Guns
                            Chaos Rhino

Auxiliary (475 PTS)

Chaos Lord- Power Amour, Mark of Slaneesh, Murder Sword, Bolt Pistol

3X Raptors Mark of Slaneesh
       Raptor Champion- Lightning Claws and bolt pistol

Chaos Renegade Knight Forsworn Knight Detachment (380 PTS)
Renegade Knight- Melta Gun, Avenger Gatlin Cannon and Heavy Flamer, Reaper Chainsword

Fortification Detachment
Aegis Defense Line with Comms Relay

Blood Angels

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ

Chaplain- Jump pack, The Veritas Vitae, Crozius Arcanum

Elites

Death Company- 6x Bolt Pistols, 4x Chainswords, 7x Death Company Marines, Hand Flamer, Jump packs, Power Fist, 2x Power Weapons

Troops

Cassor the Damned- Lucius Pattern Dreadnought Drop Pod, Magna Grapple, two Blood Talons.

Scout Squad- Scout Sergeant, Sniper Rifle, Chain Sword

4x scouts with bolt guns

Scout Squad- Camo Cloaks, 4x Bolt Pistols and Missile Launcher, 3x sniper rifles

Tactical Squad- Grav-gun, 4x Tact Marine

                           Rhino

Tactical Squad- Multi Melta, 4x Tact Marines

                          Rhino

Fast Attack- Xiphon Pattern Interceptor

2x Twin Linked Lascannon, Xiphon rotary missle launcher

Heavy Support- Fire Raptor Gunship- Four wing-mounted stormstrike missiles, twin linked avenger bolt cannon, Relic of the Armoury, Two Twin- Linked autocannons, Legacy of Glory, Storm Eagle (Battle of Calth)

Lord of War

Cerastus Knight-Atrapos

Deployment

The mission was ITC mission number 2, so Relic with a Hammer and anvil deployment.  I set up the chosen near the aegis so I could ensure my raptors came in turn two.  My opponent, Evan, rolled his two warlord traits and one of them reduce my initiative by one so it was greatly needed.  I set Kharn and the CC marines in the center of the table as to be able to deliver him in any direction.  I put the Knight near him to take some pressure off of him and give that extra threat.  The melta havocs were positioned on the left to potentially force the knight to the other side with kharn and my knight. I had to have these three baddies fight in order for the battle to swing my way.  My three raptors were also obviously kept in reserves so I could deepstrike and assault.  The lord with the murder sword chose the Chaplain as his target for the sword.  Turn one consisted of some shooting back and forth and I moved Kharn up 6 inches in the rhino and then disembarked him slighting behind the Rhino.  My opponent Evan then fell into my trap and moved his knight up 12 inches...in striking distance of kharn.  He also had his drop pod come in behind kharn so I had to make a decision.  

Turn two was a huge turn for us Traitors as we had a few options to assault.  Not pictured above but the Cerastus knight sat a few inches from that rhino and Kharn had rolled fleet on the boon roll thanks to the decurion.  He rolled two but one of the was better luck next time.  Turn one the lord in reserves had rolled a plus one to his armor save.  Cassor the damned would have to wait this turn.  I split Kharn off from the marines and moved him 6 inches towards the knight.  Perfect position to strike.  I had disembarked the melta havocs on the left side of the knight to ensure I could knock a few hull points off of it. In the shooting phase, the melta squad only did one hull point on the knight but fear not. My knight flamed the drop pod just so I could charge it and used the gatlin cannon to pop a rhino.  All my raptors had came in from reserve thanks to rerolls.  They all hit on target with one squad going after scouts, one going after a marine tactical squad and the lord and his squad going after the chaplain's squad.  After some great shooting the chaplain's squad had been reduced to 3 death company marines and the chaplain himself.  After the shooting phase, charges were made with Kharn going into the knight, my knight going into the drop pod, and the raptors making the charge into scouts, marines, and death company.  The lord getting into base contact with the chaplain was clutch as now the murder sword was str 8 ap 1 instant death.  Kharn was the highlight of this phase and what really turned the battle in our favor.  Kharn in one round of combat took all of the knights hull points and destroyed the knight.  The ensuing blast did kill kharn but it was well worth it.  The Lord and raptors killed the death company in the first round of combat.  The other raptors killed all but one scout and marine in each squad.  Which worked out as they couldn't be targeted by Evan's shooting.

After turn two it really went down hill for the blood angels as the only reserves that came in for Evan was his outflanking scouts.  Turn 3 his two flyers came in and shot a few things but the battle had been won.  I truly think if the flyers had come in sooner the game could have been salvageable for the blood angels.  

Analysis-  I will be the first to say this list is not ready for a tournament.  It needs some tweaking and a few tools to make the other units such as the bike and other marines a little more useful.  I really am going to find the points for a dread claw to get kharn where I need him and be able to assault turn 2.  Everyone has been really hard on the Traitors hate drop but I think people were expecting an instant win button.  It takes true tactics and play to win with CSM and that is ok in my books.  It feels so much better winning with an army that people rate as sub par.  What do you think?  What would you tweak in this list?   Also check out my opponent Evan's Blog at www.sepulchreofheroes.blogspot.com.

~Beer Apostle~  

Nuns with Guns at NOVA Open 2016

So, following my ill fated attempts at playing my War Convocation list at ATC and going 1-5, I decided to run a significantly less competitive list at the NOVA Open this past weekend.  I figured an Inquisition themed list with Sisters, Inquisitor Coteaz + Henchmen and an Imperial Assassin would be fun and fluffy. With the exception of the Culexus Assassin, I’ve got dozens of games with the bolter girls/Coteaz/henchmen combo so I’m more comfortable with their rules and how to get what I can out of them.  

My list was:

Sisters of Battle CAD

HQ

Jacobus- Warlord

St. Celestine

Troops

Battle Sister Squad x 5 w/Melta Gun in Immolator w/Multi Melta

Battle Sister Squad x 5 w/Melta Gun in Immolator w/Multi Melta

Battle Sister Squad x 5 w/Melta Gun in Immolator w/Heavy Flamer

Fast Attack

Dominion Squad x5 w/4x Melta Gun in Repressor

Dominion Squad x5 w/4x Melta Gun in Repressor

Heavy Support

Retributer Squad x5 w/4x Heavy Flamer in Repressor

Retributer Squad x5 w/4x Heavy Flamer in Repressor

Fortification

Aegis Defense Line w/ Quad Gun

Inquisition Allied Detachment

HQ

Inquisitor Coteaz

Elites

Henchmen Squad

2x Jokaero

3x Acolytes w/ Plasma Guns

4x Acolytes (1x bolter)

1x Psyker

Assassin Detachment

Culexus Assassin

Going into NOVA I knew my list would suffer against long range shooting (namely Tau and some Eldar builds) as they could pop my transports right quick.  Space Marine grav spam would hurt my tanks and troops, but Celestine and the girls can handle MSU pretty well whilst Coteaz has a 24” bubble of fuck your drop pods.  Chaos Daemons, IG, Orks, Jet Bike spam, Nids, would all offer their own challenges but I felt confident that I could do okay via ignoring cover melta guns and spamming flamers.

Game One:

I played Kenny from New York, who was an awesome dude and a rather good player, he ended up in like 9th overall.  Sadly, his army was lost in transit by Delta so he was playing borrowed minis at the last minute. He ran pure Tau, a Stormsurge, a few Riptides, Fire Warriors, Drones and a buffmander.  He then proceeded to wreck my face.  I picked progressives knowing that I couldn’t hold on for end game, but his Riptides and Stormsurge just popped tanks then killed girls.  On the plus side, we finished early got some beers and dinner the next night, super good dude and if I end up in Manhattan for grad school, I hope to play him again.

Game Two:

Space Marines.  Normally I’m pretty happy to play Marines as Celestine can run through their squads while the girls can put enough wounds that armor saves go away.  Not so much with the natural Invisibility and Electrodisplacement to a charge.  I played Amir from New Jersey, nice dude, very friendly, fun game, but his dual conclave on bikes with the 2+ re-rollable FNP EW chapter master from Iron Hands.  He dropped a pod in, made it over 12” away, then summoned daemons to kill the Culexus, Electrodisplaced and multi-charged. Without the FAQ/Nerfs to Invisibility and Electrodisplacement, he was able to move up, swap units, then multi charge me with an invisible star.  It went down hill from there for the bolter girls.  His summoned screamers did damage, while my Dominions were able to outflank and move to his back field. I scored a few points, but it was a very one sided loss.  

Game Three:

Tau again, hooray!  I played Joe from Georgia, who had an amazingly well painted Tau Army.  He had won best Tau and best painted at ATC a couple months back, and I could see why.  Running two squads of three Ghostkeels in the formation, some deep striking stealth suits, a Tidewall with Fire Warriors and two outflanking Kroot Squads, I was hoping that I could ignore his cover, cause enough wounds to kill some Ghostkeels and force leadership checks.  So I didn’t.  I managed to score a few points, slew his warlord (Celestine made it across the board and charged the Fire Warrior squad with the HQ) and killed a couple units, but in the progressive version, I couldn’t actually move the relic back so I just had to try and hold it; his Ghostkeels made short work of my tanks despite a ridiculous amount of 6++ invuln saves made.  After the game we got dinner and beers, and we found out that he had painted and made a fair amount of the charity Ork Army, especially the Ork Jet Bikes (which are amazing, some of the coolest minis I’ve ever seen).  A great competitor and a true hobbyist, or really an artist. I look forward to seeing his next project.

So day one was a 0-3 day, not my best, but I couldn’t ask for a nicer group of guys to kick my teeth in.  

Day Two

Game One:

I played Jack from Delaware, one of the Icehouse guys that host the annual Delawar GT.  Super nice dude and a quick game.  He ran three Imperial Knights including an Atrapos and a Riptide Wing (3x Riptides with bonuses). I hoped to scout up and melta a Knight or two, and I did manage to put some hull points down, but I just couldn’t affect the army.  He killed my henchmen squad early on, then proceeded to pop tanks, gatling gun girls to mist, and assault whatever was left over. I scored a couple points, then it ended and we got beers.  

Game Two:

Ben from New Hampshire brought a fluffy Space Wolves list with old school las/plas razorbacks, a Land Raider, Arjac, Ulrik and a generic lord with some Wolf Guard riding in it, three land speeders and some troops in the razorbacks.  It was a pretty close game, but the girls managed to pull the win, it didn’t hurt that his lascannons rolled way more ones than normal, either to hit or to penetrate, thus my tanks and girls stayed alive a lot longer.  Fun game, two pretty fluffy lists playing on a bottom table and drinking beers later one. Great guy, great game, and I finally got a win in.  

Game Three:

I ended up playing a guy that just moved to the same town in which I live, but I had not yet met. John is also in Fayetteville, NC, and was running an Imperial Guard list with an allied Genestealer Cult. He had a couple Chimeras, a few Taurox, a Leman Russ, a Valkyrie, one Wyvern, and Imperial Knight and a few squads in the transports.  The Genestealer cult had a Magos, a couple squads, and the Broodlord that could infiltrate up to one inch from my dudes, which is pretty rad especially since that nasty bastard rolled Invisibility and I couldn’t target him with templates.  The game was pretty close, but he was going for end game points while I was going progressives. I managed to wear down Genestealers and stay alive against the Broodlord which attacked Coteaz and the Henchmen, but he perilsed and lost his last wound.  We made it through five turns until time and I pulled off a minor win.  Another great close game against a super good dude that I can play in the near future.  

On the whole NOVA 2016 was a blast. I withdrew on Saturday evening as although I was 2-0 in the bottom bracket, I didn’t have it in me to play two more games and really just wanted to drink, socialize and see everything that was going on.   On the bottom level there was Warmachine, X-Wing and Armada, Fantasy/AoS, Malifaux, and several other games I couldn’t name.  There was a 30k event that looked A-Mazing, and I might play in that next year instead of the GT.  I really enjoy competitive 40k, but eight games is a lot and I don’t think I will have the time to really practice with a strong army to play it well enough in a year’s time.  

One thing I didn’t dig was NOVA’s not using the ITC nerfs.  Invisibility is nasty, and playing it twice in its full strength just sucks.  Ditto on the Electrodisplacement.  I could have taken advantage of the ruleset in use and brought my girls in via Drop Pods, but every other tournament in the US is observing that FAQ so I didn’t.  Mike Brandt, Dewry, Neil Gilstrap and the dozens of other folks I can’t name that ran NOVA did a great and wonderful thing, they held an awesome event that lasted Thursday through Sunday and had something for every tabletop gamer.  If you ever get the chance, NOVA is a blast.  

Chaos Emerges!!

  The Chaos Gods have spoken and they have given us Traitors some love!!!

My two favorites here are the Terminator Annihilation Force and the Raptor Talon.  Raptors and Warp Talons getting to assault after to deepstrike...what isn't to like there?  The Terminator Annihilation force getting to shoot after it deepstrikes and then shoot again.  Money.  I am a little sad Kharn did not get eternal warrior.  The psychic powers have been confirmed by GW to be the same powers as the angel of death powers with just a dark twist on them.  What do you guys think?  Let us know! Enjoy.

~Beer Apostle~